I'm a 29 year old Canadian with 7 years of teaching experience in Vietnam (mostly at the primary level, though with some kindergarten and high school experience...along with some IELTS teaching and testing experience).

I have a TEFL certificate through Oxford seminars (not exactly cream of the crop), and an IELTS certificate through the British Council (worth mentioning I suppose).

The reason why I'm (somewhat) dismissing Taiwan and SK is because (from what I've heard) they require an undergraduate degree (which I lack) despite post-graduate qualifications. There have been a few conflicting arguments to this, but generally this seems to be the case.

I'm currently doing an MA TESOL through Nottingham University, flying in once every three months from Vietnam to do so (so it's technically an on-campus degree).

It sounds as if your options for gaining specific, post-grad experience is limited because you've chosen a non-traditional route in terms of your education. Sometimes the quickest path isn't the best route. Ironically, your job opportunities would be better if you'd simply completed a BA and a CELTA. But what's done is done since you're presently in your MA TESOL program. (I assume you're flying back and forth from Vietnam to the university's Malaysia campus.)

Because your situation is not the norm, I don't have any suggestions for you other than to be proactive and do some thorough and direct research and follow up on your own instead of relying on what you've "heard" from others. Use the Internet to research visa and educational requirements for the countries you want to teach in. Also, email the appropriate education authorities in those countries, while keeping in mind there's no guarantee you'll get the answer you want or even a response at all. Lastly, be aware that even if you qualify to legally teach in a particular country, some potential employers may not accept your grad degree due to the lack of a BA---others might even find it suspect.

Hopefully other posters on this forum will have definitive answers that will get you closer to your TEFL goals. Good luck.

I haven't been that pro-active as of yet (besides posting here), as I'm into my first module for this MA TESOL and have a long ways to go. I am very curious though, and would love some more feedback from anyone having some direct knowledge of the subject.

I think whether or not a BA + CELTA is more useful than an MA + CELTA would have to be taken on a case-by-case basis. I emailed the British Council in Hong Kong a while back, and they mentioned that the MA would bypass the first degree requirement without any difficulty. Taiwan and Korea are the only two countries (to my knowledge) where my lack of a BA might be an issue.

For me, I'm willing to take the risk. I'd rather study part-time for two years (while doing a teaching related degree) while, than doing so for 5 years earning something non-related.

It has been posted here that Saudi requires a first degree, but that is hearsay. The Middle East tends to be obsessed with the bits of academic paper which we all must provide to get the visas. If you get to the interview stage with any Gulf employers, I would make the situation clear in case it will be a problem.

I personally know two teachers with MA TESL/TEFL but no BAs who taught on very good contracts for 3-year stints in the region - it was a few years ago and I've no idea to what extent it's common or allowed. May well be on a case-by-case basis? But not without precedent, for what little that may be worth!